Honeymoon in Hawaii: Part II

And then we headed to Honolulu! (you like how I'm not addressing the fact I haven't posted in a month? lol) We stayed at Hilton Hawaiian Village which was BUS-Y. I've never seen so many people in one place, but it was gorgeous!! There was always something to do and this half of the trip we actually stayed pretty active! Before we even checked into the hotel we decided to trek up Diamond Head! Diamond Head is a dormant volcano that the US Troops used for lookouts during the war. The adventure is a .75 mile walk mostly uphill that leads you to a beautiful view of Waikiki/Honolulu. Whew what a walk!!

We went through the pathway...

Then stopped halfway to rest...and take a few pics of the crater!

Through the dark tunnel carved into the mountain...

And up these ridiculously steep steps...wow were my legs hurting after 2 sets of these!!

And then we were there!!

The way down was much easier!!

We then checked into the hotel and did some sightseeing around the hotel!

They even had little penquins!! How cute were they?

View from our room...

We had 3 full days of relaxation...

Whew...and it's not over yet!! Our last day was action packed, and it will be Part III!!

Honeymoon in Hawaii: Part I

So here comes the fun stuff! After the reception was over and we were all packed up we headed to Hawaii!!! I would recommend spending your honeymoon in Hawaii in a heartbeat! We split our time on the island of Oahu into 2 halves, the first being on the North Shore at a resort called Turtle Bay. Some of you may know it of "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" fame. It was everything you could have imagined and more!!

We were greeted with Lei's....

And champagne!

We then retreated to our own personal hammock!

Good times were had on the beach:

A little R&R...

Before our couples seaside massage...oh so good. Beer= Gooooood

And some seriously delicious meals...which I completely forgot to take pictures of!!

Who could possibly forget about the pool? Us lazy bums spent most of our time here...

And one of my fav pics from the first half of our trip!

I documented the first half of our trip on Turtle Bay's stationary and since I missed out on a cool ring shot at the wedding, I thought I'd try to recreate one of my own! Not as cute but hey I tried!! LOL

Stayed tuned for Part II, Honolulu/Waikiki!

I'm baaa-aack!!

Whew! What a glorious 2 weeks it has been! I feel like I have so much to share that I don't know where to start! Hawaii was amazing and we have TONS of pictures from the Honeymoon! But before I share any pictures or vendor reviews there are some thoughts I want to share for some of you future brides-to-be to help with your sanity!!

While I did think my day was perfect and I couldn't have hoped for a more beautiful and fun way to celebrate our union, there are some things I would do differently:

1. Don't schedule too much on your big day. I know you think you are going to have time and you want to please everybody but seriously, plan things at a minimum. Example: I had a friend of M's family plan to throw my Bridesmaid Brunch on the day of our wedding. I felt I was going to be rushed but I didn't want to cancel on her so I said it was fine. And it was a lot of fun, we drank mimosas, laughed, and relaxed, but it made the rest of the day VERY TIGHTLY scheduled which led to me not getting to do everything I wanted to.

All the girls at the Bridesmaid Brunch: Steph at New Beginnings, Linds, Anna, me, Sarah (MOH), Virginia (MOH), and Caitlin of Think Happy Thoughts (my proxy)

Which leads to...

2. Give your photographer a list of photos you want. Because I was so rushed getting our hair done, my makeup done, etc, it completely distracted me and I totally forgot to give Shea a list of photos that I wanted to make sure were taken. So while she did amazing I'm sure with just about everything, we didn't get any pictures of just our rings. I'm so disappointed with myself I don't know what to do, but that's life. Nothing I can do about it now. We also didn't get to take all the photos before the ceremony like I wanted to so we spent more time than I wanted getting to the reception to PAR-TAY!

3. DO NOT serve red wine at your wedding if you plan on dancing! It's a great thing that I'm pretty laid back because my dress got SOAKED in Merlot on the bottom. My aunt and grandmother were wigging out on me but I just wanted to party!! I wish I would have thought about it and avoided even the chance of it happening but once again, now I just have to hope that the cleaners can remove it.

4. Hire professionals that will take care of you. I had some phenominal vendors that I can't wait to share with you and I hope it helps in making some of your decisions for the future. They set up and packed up everything where I had NO worries. I will say that I wish I had more of a dedicated wedding coordinator. I planned this whole thing by myself but M's mom's friend was a wedding planner and she offered to do the rehearsal and day off at no charge which I was super excited about. It kept me from having to spend extra money on a planner and I had someone to tell me how to do things...but once the reception hit she turned into a guest. So because I didn't really have somebody on my side I have no idea where my bouquet went, my cake topper, and various other random things. So please, please, please hire a planner, even if it's just day-of.

5. Don't let planning the perfect wedding shadow the fact that you are marrying the man of your dreams. This is something I can say I actually did and it was amazing. I wasn't a ball of nerves at all, I wasn't worried that something was going to be wrong and ruin my day. And when it was over, I hadn't built it up so much in my mind that I was disappointed that it was over. Yes I had an amazing day and I would have that party every single day if I could, but it was purely because we were celebrating something so great and all my family and friends were right there with me! But I don't miss planning my wedding and I'm happy to be married to my man!!!

So I know this post was boring and without many pictures, BUT I thought it was really important to share my small tidbits of info. If I can just help ONE person I'll be happy!! But next up....VENDOR RECAPS AND HONEYMOON!!!! WOOOO HOOO!!